Wick



fimgu m, 1925.

w. a. ENGH WICK Filed Jan. 27, 1922 I INVENTOR.

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A TTORNE Y.

Patented. Aug 1925 1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER B. ENGH, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssIeNoR'ro THE EMILE Lmrcommiw 7GIT-AMERICA, or cnrcaeo, ILLINOIS, A conronarron or ILLINOIS.

WICK. I

Application filed January 27, 1922. serial no. 532,301.

T allwhom it may concern." 7

Be it known that I, WALTER B. ENGH, a

it citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county ofCook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new anduseful-Improvements in Wicks, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to wicks for lamps and analogous oil burningdevices in which wicks are employed to raise the oil from a reservoir tothe operative part of a burner.

Objects of the invention, are to stifien the wick so that it will not bedefoi 'med when inserted in the burner, or deformed by the thrust of thewick raiser when in use; to size the wick at the time of its production,

' so that it will easily move up and down upon the guiding inner wicktube of a burner without binding or undue resistance; to substantiallyconfine the evaporation of the oil to a limited and chosen area of thewick;

to make the wiclcraising element of the wick which is attached theretosubstantially an integral part of the wick, and to simplify and therebycheapen the cost of the wickraising devices.

The invention will be best understood if reference is made to theaccompanying drawing, forming part of this specification,"

in which- Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a burner embodyingthe invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a wick containing my improvements;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the burner, taken on the line 3-3of Figure 1, and

Figure 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of Figure 3 revealing theconnection between the wick and an attached part of the wick raiser. v

The wick 1 is of the woven variety wherein cotton fibers are associatedin such man- The other member of the joint or union,

is a knob-like piece of metal 7 having pron Sfextending through thewick, and of i 'cient length when bent, as at 9, to be by the outersurface of the inner wic :tube as the/wick is raised or' lowered, thecontacting metallic surfaces of the prongs and the wick tube afiordingconsiderable ease 1n the manipulation of the wick-raisin device eventhough the. wick fits the inner wick tube with a slight degree oflooseness. The individual male members of the joint are conveniently cutfrom a single strip of metal produced in a machine especially con.-

structed for that purpose, but they may be made many other manner, 'asdeemed desirable.-

ideal The wick may be stifiened by adherent. 4

linings of woven fabric 10, or similar linings of paper 11, respectivelyshown in Figures 2 and 1. The lining of woven fabric may be a piece ofcotton tape, such as ismade with a water-soluble adhesive film on oneside, and if paper be used it will have a similar adhesive film.

The wick may be stifiened with a reinforcing'lining on one sideonly,.however ll prefer touse linings for sections of both the insideand outside of the wick especially at 1 points where the wick raisingmechanism is attached. Other sections of the wick may be stifiened bybeing coated with an aqueous solution containing a phenol or cresol andformaldehyde, or other suitable stifiening substance, but stifiening thewick in this latter manner constitutes, per se, no part of the presentinvention.

When adhesive tape is used for a reinforcing lining, it should have agummed surface film and be about five thousandths of an' inch inthickness. The tape is first formed into a cylinder over an arbor, withthe gummed side out, and the wick is then pulled over the tape cylinderWhile it is still on the arbor. This operation forms the inside liningfor the wick. The wick thus mounted is then steamed and dried until thetape firmly adheres to the Wick. As these operations are done over anarbor of a definite size, it is possible to obtain a wick of a desiredinternal diameter which will fit around an inner wick tube in a uniformmanner, and with the required degree of looseness. While the wick, withthe inside lining in position is still on an arbor, a seetion of theoutside of the wick may be reinforced by wrapping with a gummed tape. Ifind it preferable to reinforce with a woven tape a section of theoutside of the wick to thereby form a more rigid seat for the metalmounting 7 and to determine a closure to the upper end of the slot of abifurcated wick.

In addition to the above-stated advantages following the use of the tapelining of the wick, a further advantage is foun in the relativeimpermeability of the tape which reduces the amount of oil at the hotsurface of the inner wick tube, and, to a certain extent, prevents theexcessive evaporation which interferes with the production of a' blueheating flame. A further advantage attending the use of the tape lining,is that said lining maintains the regularity and even shape of the tipof the wick, a result which cannot be attained in wicks wherein thefabric at the inside of their tips is without re-inforcement. In suchwicks,

the fibers of the woven material become disarranged at the wick tips,and do not uniformly feed the oil in equal quantities at all parts ofthe circumference to thereby produce a symmetrical flame. In consequenceof this irregularity of feeding, the flame is irregular and incapable ofheating all parts of the mantle of a lamp to the same degree ofincandescence.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is:

1. A wick comprising a capillary element of tubular form, and a sizedre-inforcing layer of cellulose adherently secured to the inner wallthereof.

2. A wick comprising a stiffened flexible capillary element composed ofcellulose, and

a layer of cellulose adherently secured to a wall thereof.

3. A wick comprising a flexible capillary element composed of celluloseimpregnated with a stiffening substance, and a layer of celluloseadherently secured to a wall thereof.

4. An annular wick having the upper portion of its inner wall covered bya tape secured to said wall by an adhesive substance.

5. An annular Wick having an inner lining of relatively-low capillarity,and an outer covering of relatively-low 'capillarity extending upward toa point below the tip thereof.

6. An annular wick stiffened and sized by an adherent tape.

7. A wick combined with separate complemental clip members secured tothe outside thereof and adapted to engage a wick ralser.

8. A wick combined with members of a wick-raising mechanism, saidmembers being provided with penetrative prongs and adapted to engage theactuating means of said wick-raising mechanism.

.9. The combination with a wick tube, of a wick surrounding said tube,wick-raising elements, and penetrative points carried by said elementsand extending through the wick to and into contact with said wick tube.

10. A tubular wick composed of cellulose material, and including aninner layer for stiffening and sizing the interior and an outerlayer forstiffening and sizing the exterior thereof.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WALTER B. ENGH.

